While there is general consensus that type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) result from
the explosion of carbon-oxygen white dwarfs in binary systems, there is no
agreement as to the detailed properties of the progenitor system or how the
white dwarf is brought to explosion. This is a particularly interesting question
given that SNe Ia are used as cosmological standardizable candles
[1]} and have heralded dark energy [2]}, [3]}.
